From laboratory to industrial scale

1. From laboratory to industrial scale
scale-up calculations of chemical processes for LCA
Fabiano Piccinno1,2
Roland Hischier1, Stefan Seeger2, Claudia Som1
1Empa, Technology and Society Lab, St. Gallen, Switzerland
2University of Zurich, Department of Chemistry, Zurich, Switzerland

2. Outline
 Scale-up framework
 Case study: NanoCelluComp

3. fda.gov
frings.com
Scale-up of chemical processes

4. Scale-up framework

5. Scale-up procedure
Lab protocolLab protocol
Plant flow
chart
Plant flow
chart
Scale-up of
each process
step
Scale-up of
each process
step
Linkage of
process step
Linkage of
process step
Perform LCAPerform LCA

6. Material and energy in- and output of a reaction process
 Focus on liquid phase batch reactor processes
Heated Liquid Phase Batch
Reaction Step
Processing, Purification,
Isolation Steps Product
(Co-/By-Product)
HeatingEnergy
StirringEnergy
Solvent
Reactants
(Catalyst)
WasteHeat
WasteHeat
Waste
Wastewater
HeatingEnergy
Chemicals,
Water
Reaction
Mixture
HeatRecovery
Material Recovery
Water Recovery
Emissions
Emissions
OtherEnergy
Reaction Process
Heated Liquid Phase Batch
Reaction Step
Processing, Purification,
Isolation Steps Product
(Co-/By-Product)
HeatingEnergy
StirringEnergy
Solvent
Reactants
(Catalyst)
WasteHeat
WasteHeat
Waste
Wastewater
HeatingEnergy
Chemicals,
Water
Reaction
Mixture
Emissions
Emissions
OtherEnergy
Reaction Process
Heated Liquid Phase Batch
Reaction Step
Processing, Purification,
Isolation Steps Product
(Co-/By-Product)
HeatingEnergy
StirringEnergy
Solvent
Reactants
(Catalyst)
WasteHeat
WasteHeat
Waste
Wastewater
HeatingEnergy
Chemicals,
Water
Reaction
Mixture
Emissions
Emissions
OtherEnergy
Heated Liquid Phase Batch
Reaction Step
HeatingEnergy
StirringEnergy
Solvent
Reactants
(Catalyst)
WasteHeat
Reaction
Mixture
Emissions

7. Production plant with multiple reaction processes
Reaction
Process 1a
Intermediate
Product
Intermediate
Product
Product
Reaction
Process 2
Intermediate
Product
Reaction
Process 3
Reaction
Process 1b
Inputs
Outputs
Inputs
Outputs
Inputs
Outputs
Inputs
Outputs
Infrastructure Chemical
Production Plant
Heat/MaterialRecovery
Heat/MaterialRecovery
Reaction
Process 1a
Intermediate
Product
Intermediate
Product
Product
Reaction
Process 2
Intermediate
Product
Reaction
Process 3
Reaction
Process 1b
Inputs
Outputs
Inputs
Outputs
Inputs
Outputs
Inputs
Outputs
Heat/MaterialRecovery
Heat/MaterialRecovery
Reaction
Process

8. Case study

9. Carrot
Waste
Boiling in
Water and
Breakdown
Liberated
MFC
Coated MFC
Addition of
Carrier
Polymer
Addition of
Coating,
Aging
Production
of GripX
Enzymatic
Depolymerizati
on
Homogen-
izing
Wet Spinning
Byproducts
(hemicellulose,
pectins...)
Waste-
water
Waste-
water
Waste-
water
Nanocellulose
Yarn
Hazardous
waste
Waste-
water
Lab production and plant flow chart
Production of 94 kg per batch  ~ 700 t/a

10. Filter tank with pump
Coagulation bath
Reaction tank
with homogenizerStirred heated
reaction tank
Heated pressure
batch reactor with
intank homogenizer
Degassing tank
Washing bath
Heated
drum rolls
Pump
Yarn
Collection
Stirred heated
reaction tank
Scenario Analyses
Starting material:
 Whole Carrot
 Carrot Pomace
Enzyme Deactivation
 Heat
 Bleach (ClO2)
Solvent Recovery
 Without
 With (95 %)

11. Filter tank with pump
Coagulation bath
Reaction tank
with homogenizerStirred heated
reaction tank
Heated pressure
batch reactor with
intank homogenizer
Degassing tank
Washing bath
Heated
drum rolls
Pump
Yarn
Collection
Stirred heated
reaction tank
Scenario Analyses
Preheat inlet
stream with
waste heat
Heat Recovery

12. LCIA – production of 1 kg spun yarn
-6
-5
-4
-3
-2
-1
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
1 C 2 C 3 C 4 C 5 C 6 C 7 C 8 C 9 C 10 C
ReCiPe Endpoint - total
MFC Liberation GripX
Spinning Acetone
C Pumping C Infrastructure
electricity (solvent incineration) heat (solvent incineration)
Whole Carrots Carrot Pomace
Heat
Heat

13. -6
-5
-4
-3
-2
-1
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
1 C 2 C 3 C 4 C 5 C 6 C 7 C 8 C 9 C 10 C
ReCiPe Endpoint - total
MFC Liberation GripX
Spinning Acetone
C Pumping C Infrastructure
electricity (solvent incineration) heat (solvent incineration)
Whole Carrots Carrot Pomace
Heat
Heat
Bleach
Bleach
LCIA – production of 1 kg spun yarn

14. -6
-5
-4
-3
-2
-1
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
1 C 2 C 3 C 4 C 5 C 6 C 7 C 8 C 9 C 10 C
ReCiPe Endpoint - total
MFC Liberation GripX
Spinning Acetone
C Pumping C Infrastructure
electricity (solvent incineration) heat (solvent incineration)
Heat
Heat
Whole Carrots Carrot Pomace
Heat
Heat
Bleach
Bleach
LCIA – production of 1 kg spun yarn

15. -6
-5
-4
-3
-2
-1
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
1 C 2 C 3 C 4 C 5 C 6 C 7 C 8 C 9 C 10 C
ReCiPe Endpoint - total
MFC Liberation GripX
Spinning Acetone
C Pumping C Infrastructure
electricity (solvent incineration) heat (solvent incineration)
Heat
Heat
Heat
Heat
Whole Carrots Carrot Pomace
Heat
Heat
Bleach
Bleach
LCIA – production of 1 kg spun yarn

16. -6
-5
-4
-3
-2
-1
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
1 C 2 C 3 C 4 C 5 C 6 C 7 C 8 C 9 C 10 C
ReCiPe Endpoint - total
MFC Liberation GripX
Spinning Acetone
C Pumping C Infrastructure
electricity (solvent incineration) heat (solvent incineration)
Heat
Heat
Heat
Heat
Whole Carrots Carrot Pomace
Heat
Heat
Bleach
Bleach
Bleach
Bleach
LCIA – production of 1 kg spun yarn

17. -6
-5
-4
-3
-2
-1
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
1 C 2 C 3 C 4 C 5 C 6 C 7 C 8 C 9 C 10 C
ReCiPe Endpoint - total
MFC Liberation GripX
Spinning Acetone
C Pumping C Infrastructure
electricity (solvent incineration) heat (solvent incineration)
Heat
Heat
Heat
Heat
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
1 C 2 C 3 C 4 C 5 C 6 C 7 C 8 C 9 C 10 C
ReCiPe Endpoint - total
Heat
Heat
Heat
Heat
Whole Carrots Carrot Pomace
Heat
Heat
Bleach
Bleach
Bleach
Bleach
LCIA – production of 1 kg spun yarn

18. 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
Lab Scale
1 C
10 C
10 C, no Acetone
Glass Fibre
Carbon Fibre
ReCiPe Endpoint Indicators
ecosystem quality - total human health - total resources - total
Heat
Bleach
LCIA – Comparison with Lab Scale and Competing Fibres
Bleach

19. Conclusions
 Framework helpful in predicting LCA
 Scenario analyses for understanding
 Treat results with caution
 LCA results help to focus on key contributors
and optimize process

20. Fabiano Piccinno
fabiano.piccinno@uzh.ch
Acknowledgement:
Contact:

21. -0,1
-0,05
0
0,05
0,1
0,15
0,2
0,25
0,3
1 C 2 C 3 C 4 C 5 C 6 C 7 C 8 C 9 C 10 C
NMVOCEq[kg]
Photochemical Oxidant Formation Potential
MFC Liberation GripX
Spinning Acetone
C Pumping C Infrastructure
electricity (solvent incineration) heat (solvent incineration)
LCIA – production of 1 kg spun yarn

22. Application – Motorhome Example
• System 10 C (lowest impact) used for Cellulose
• Functional Unit: 1 Motohome
• Transports not included
Nanocellulose
Yarn
Hand lay-up
Composite
Production for
Motorhome
Production of bioresin
or conventional resin
Production of
Motorhome
Use of
Motorhome
Composite to
Municipal Waste
Incineration

23. Global Warming Potential
0 20 40 60 80 100 120
NFC/Bio-
Epoxy 80
NFC/Bio-
Epoxy 300
GF 80
GF 300
CO2 Eq [t]